LA Kings Acquire Ben Bishop

The first surprising move of the 2017 NHL Trade season has happened.

On Sunday afternoon, the Tampa Bay Lightning traded veteran goaltender Ben Bishop to the LA Kings for goaltender Peter Budaj, defenseman Erik Cernak and a seventh round pick in the 2017 NHL Draft. Tampa is also including a conditional seventh round pick in 2017 originally owned by the Kings in the deal.

Bishop, 30, has a .911 save percentage and a 2.55 goals against average in 32 games with Tampa this season. He is an unrestricted free agent after the 2016-17 season.

Budaj, 34, was holding the Kings afloat while Jonathan Quick was on IR for most of the regular season. In 53 games, Budaj put together a 27-20-3 record with a 2.12 GAA and a .917 save percentage with seven shutouts.

Cernak, 19, was a second round pick (#43 overall) by the Kings in 2015. He has 17 points in 41 games with the Erie Otters in the OHL, where is is a teammate of Blackhawks prospect Alex DeBrincat.

Brian Boyle for Byron Froese & a 2nd round pick in 2017 — I wonder why Stan B couldn’t have made a similar offer? (I really like Kruger – I believe his play/effectiveness before the wrist injury earned him his increased salary – but it seems like right now Boyle would have been an upgrade.)